Tests and Measures: Identifying T&M and Finding Reviews

Recommended Sources for Reviews of Tests and Measures

Test reviews are usually written for published tests and often (but not always) include brief descriptions of tests and measurements to give potential users some important background. Other information that typically accompanies test and measurement reviews include contact information for the publisher, validity and reliability, scoring, purpose, intended population, pricing, administration, and so on. The following sources should be consulted when looking for reviews of particular tests. The order in which they appear is a rough guide to how a search might be constructed.

The Mental Measurements Yearbook™ (MMY) provides users with a comprehensive guide to over 7,000 testing instruments. All MMY entries contain descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing) and edited review(s) written by leading content area experts. This resource also includes the complete Tests in Print database. Tests in Print (TIP) serves as a comprehensive bibliography to all known commercially available tests that are currently in print in the English language. TIP provides vital information to users including in-print status, price, test acronym, intended test population, administration times, publication date(s), and test author(s). A score index permits users to identify what is being measured by each test.

Designed for an audience ranging from novice test consumers to experienced professionals, the MMY series contains information essential for a complete evaluation of test products within such diverse areas as psychology, education, business, and leadership. All MMY entries contain descriptive information (e.g., test purpose, publisher, pricing) and edited review(s) written by leading content area experts. This resource also includes the complete Tests in Print database which is also produced by the Buros Institute. Tests in Print (TIP) serves as a comprehensive bibliography to all known commercially available tests that are currently in print in the English language. TIP provides vital information to users including in-print status, price, test acronym, intended test population, administration times, publication date(s), and test author(s). A score index permits users to identify what is being measured by each test.

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Databases

Journal articles are often another good way to get reviews and information on tests and measurements. The databases listed here are some of the more useful resources for finding this type of information.

It covers the academic research and practice literature in psychology from over 45 countries in more than 25 languages. PsycINFO includes relevant materials from related disciplines such as medicine, psychiatry, education, social work, law, criminology, social science, and organizational behavior. It provides indexes to journals, dissertations, book chapters, books, technical reports, and other documents from 1887 to the present. Many journals are available in full-text.

Approximately 2500 journals in 30 different languages from about 55 countries are scanned for inclusion, covering sociological topics in fields such as anthropology, economics, education, medicine, community development, philosophy, demography, political science, and social psychology. Journals published by sociological associations, groups, faculties, and institutes, and periodicals containing the term 'sociology' in their titles, are abstracted fully, irrespective of language or country of publication. Non-core journals are screened for articles by sociologists and/or articles of immediate interest or relevance to sociologists.

Tests and measurements sometimes appear as an appendix to a dissertation. This database provides full-text online access to dissertations done at more than one thousand institutions from 1997-present and citations and abstracts for selected dissertations from earlier years.

Citations for dissertations from 1980 on include 350-word abstracts, while masters' theses from 1988 forward have 150 word abstracts.The database covers work done at more than a thousand institutions, primarily in the United States but also in Canada and Great Britain, and at other European universities for recent years.In addition to this database, the full text of the majority of UNC theses and dissertations from 2006, and all beginning in 2008, are freely available electronically from the UNC Library.

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Books

There are many test review volumes available and the UNC library catalog can be a great way to find them. These works are typically devoted to a particular area (i.e. education or psychology) or have an even narrower focus (i.e. special education). Useful search terms include your particular area of interest (i.e. "psychology" or "academic achievement") and "tests" or "measures" or "measurements" or "assessement." A sample of these kinds of resources are listed below.

Part 3 of this work covers specific tests and measurements for couples assessment, child and family assessment, and child abuse and family assessment. Strategies for assessment are given for each context and a range of appropriate instruments are described.

Looking for an archery test? Badminton? Football? Arranged by sport this guide lists purpose, description, personnel, equipment and supplies, facilities and space, directions, scoring, and validity and reliability for each test.

Aims to cover unpublished measures dealing with child behavior. The first handbook covers the ages from birth to 12 years while the second covers birth to 18 years. Over 1200 measures are covered in all.